Press Release 8 Dec . 2005

Statement Meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the level of Foreign Ministers held in Brussels on Thursday, 8 December 2005 Meeting in Brussels on 8 December 2005, we, the Foreign Ministers of the NATO-Russia Council, welcomed the substantial progress achieved throughout the past year in developing and reinforcing our political dialogue and practical cooperation, including through the development of common positions and joint initiatives, in the spirit of the May 2002 Rome Declaration. Building upon the political consultations conducted in 2005 on the situations in Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, Georgia and Central Asia, we exchanged views on current international security issues, including on recent developments in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Reaffirming our determination to intensify efforts in 2006, we reviewed progress in implementing the NATO-Russia Action Plan on Terrorism, including the preparation of Russian naval assets for their role in Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean Sea, aimed at helping deter, defend, disrupt and protect against terrorism. We welcomed the results of the conference on “Lessons Learned from Recent Terrorist Attacks: Building National Capabilities and Institutions”, held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in June-July 2005. We noted with satisfaction Russia’s signature of the Partnership for Peace Status of Forces Agreement, which will provide a legal foundation for increased practical and operational cooperation, and looked forward to its prompt ratification. We approved an ambitious work programme for the coming year, which will build upon these and other achievements, and underscored our commitment to raise public awareness of the NRC’s objectives, principles and activities. We reaffirmed our support for international efforts to promote security and stability in and around Afghanistan. In this regard, we expressed concern over threats posed by the trafficking in narcotics, including its links to the financing of terrorism, and agreed today to launch an NRC Pilot Project on Counter-Narcotics Training for Afghan and Central Asian Personnel. We expect this joint NATO-Russia effort to make a concrete and meaningful contribution to international efforts to countering threats posed by narcotics trafficking. We underscored the need to work together in concrete ways to improve the security of our peoples, and of all in the Euro-Atlantic area. We noted with satisfaction the successful completion of the Phase I Feasibility Study of the Cooperative Airspace Initiative, which will improve our ability to cooperate in airspace management, safety and transparency. We looked forward to the third NRC Theatre Missile Defence Command Post Exercise, to be hosted by Russia in 2006, building upon successful exercises hosted by the United States and the Netherlands. We welcomed progress in cooperation on civil emergency planning, and looked forward to an NRC Consequence Management Exercise to be hosted by Italy in the autumn of 2006. We welcomed the on-going NRC dialogue on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and underlined the need for further enhancement of such dialogue. We noted progress in exploring opportunities for practical cooperation on protection from nuclear, biological and chemical materials and agents, and looked forward to further work in this area in 2006. We welcomed progress in NRC cooperation on Defence Reform, noting in particular the endorsement by NRC Defence Ministers, in June 2005, of Political-Military Guidance towards Enhanced Interoperability between Forces of Russia and NATO Nations. We were also pleased to note the adoption by NRC Chiefs of Defence Staff of an ambitious Work Plan for 2006 and Beyond to guide future military-to-military cooperation. We noted with appreciation the concrete results of combined training and exercises in areas including Search and Rescue at Sea and Communications, and looked forward to continued efforts. In addition to increasing the interoperability of our forces, such efforts help build mutual understanding and trust, a necessary foundation for a meaningful, sustainable partnership. We also noted with satisfaction the successful conduct of an NRC Seminar on Nuclear Doctrine and Strategy in Germany in July 2005, and the NRC’s observation of nuclear accident response exercise Senator 2005, hosted by the United Kingdom in September 2005. With regard to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), in accordance with our shared principle of indivisibility of security, we reaffirmed the position expressed in our Statement on 9 December 2004. We welcomed recent progress toward fulfilling the commitments reflected in the Final Act of the 1999 Conference of the States Parties to the CFE Treaty and urged expedited efforts to fulfill remaining commitments. In this context, we agreed to work toward ratification by all the States Parties and entry into force of the Agreement on Adaptation of the CFE Treaty. We looked forward to the forthcoming Third CFE Review Conference. Finally, noting with satisfaction the considerable progress achieved over the past three and a half years in the areas of cooperation identified by Heads of State and Government in Pratica di Mare, we recognised the need to seek possibilities for deepening cooperation in the NRC framework. In this regard, we tasked NRC Ambassadors, taking into account the implementation of NATO-Russia cooperation to date, to provide, at our next meeting, recommendations for priorities in the further development of the new quality of NATO-Russia relations as envisioned by the Rome Declaration.